What constitutes eadiness for theological studies?
Beginning in 1987 the Lilly Endowment embarked upon a multi-level, ecumenical initiative on “improving the recruitment and selection of candidates for the ministry,” to support seminary and church agency recruitment programs. In 1990 the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) began a program within this larger initiative, “achieving readiness for theological studies.” Since the 1970s Catholic seminaries have observed a progressive decline in the theological and religious literacy of incoming students, with a comparable deterioration in basic liberal arts and language skills. Seminaries have also observed the erosion of what might be called “Catholic culture”: knowledge and understanding of distinctive Catholic doctrines, devotions, and other forms of spirituality. This project seeks, first, to analyze what in light of the recent academic and cultural changes in the Catholic community in the U.S. constitutes readiness for theological studies in the Catholic tradition. Second,
